During the operation of a turbine engine, turbine vanes, among other components, are subjected to a variety of loads. The vanes can be made of any of a number of materials, and each material can provide certain advantages in managing the operational loads imposed on the vane. Prior turbine vanes have been made of a single material. However, experience has demonstrated that no single material is ideal for every portion of the vane and that vanes made of a single material can actually lead to a decrease in engine efficiency. Prior vanes have also been formed with the airfoil portion and the shrouds as a unitary construction, such as by casting. Such unitary vanes can result in lower manufacturing yields, costly repair, and expensive replacement inventories. In addition, the relatively large size of the unitary vanes made the use of certain materials infeasible. Thus, there is a need for a vane design that can minimize these and other drawbacks associated with single material and/or unitary vane constructions.